KINNEY RECRUITING is home to some of the most respected legal recruiters in Asia, New York, Texas, California and Florida. We take pride in finding the best attorneys the perfect job in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and more. >>

KINNEY RECRUITING is home to some of the most respected legal recruiters in the world, proudly serving markets around the globe. Kinney's Asia practice includes Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Singapore, among others. Our U.S. services focus on New York, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Ft. Worth, Phoenix, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Denver. Additionally, Kinney Recruiting is active in Dubai, London, Moscow and the rest of Europe. We have placed countless attorneys at many of the best law firms and major in-house legal departments in the world.

Founded by one of the most successful Texas legal recruiters of all time, Kinney Recruiting began with a simple philosophy: If we work as hard and smart, and if we are as responsive to client needs as the best of our clients and candidates, we will become the premier legal recruiting firm in every market we serve. We have succeeded by gathering over fifty years of attorney recruitment and top law firm experience within our organization and leveraging technology to help us help our clients. We also have structured our organization to promote teamwork. As a result, we believe that we know of more "real" jobs, we have more clients who know and respect our work, and we provide more help to more people than any legal recruitment agency in any market we serve.

If you are interested in legal staffing services for your organization, or if you are a potential candidate for our services, please browse our site until you are comfortable with our philosophy and practices. Kinney Recruiting is committed to serving our clients' interests in an ethical and effective manner, ultimately matching the right candidate with the perfect job. Contact us today to start your search! <<

This week we are publishing the third part of our special report on lateral hiring trends in the legal market. In our prior postings we reported on the trends in lateral hiring of law firm partners and associates. This week our attention shifts to lateral hiring for of counsel positions.

These reports are based on market data we have collected on our own over the last five years. As previously mentioned, several general caveats should be noted about our methodology and the scope of the data collection:

this report only covers data for the top 200 American law firms;

it covers lateral hiring practices in 19 major domestic markets;

we collect this data on our own and make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy;

the associate numbers in particular may be subject to underreporting (more so than partner lateral hiring) simply due to law firm policy regarding public announcement

Despite these caveats we believe the data available to us and as presented here is directionally accurate as to general market trends. We also make this data available by email subscription (sign up at the bottom of this article).

Of Counsel Lateral Hiring Trends 2010 – 2014

Not surprisingly the 5-year trend for of counsel lateral hiring follows the same general pattern we discussed previously regarding law firm partners and associates. After tailing off sharply in the years immediately following the Great Recession, large law firms gradually resumed a more normal and elevated pace for lateral hiring of counsel positions as shown in the chart below.

But notice over the course of the last three years how of counsel lateral hiring has held remarkably steady. This is true in the aggregate as well as when we look at the numbers broken down by geographical region or major practice areas; there has been very little variability in the level of counsel hiring from 2012 to 2014. This stands in sharp contrast to the trends we discussed previously for lateral hiring of both partners and associates, where there is considerable variability year over year. Compared to the clocklike regularity with of counsel hiring, partner lateral hiring dropped by 6.4% from 2012 to 2013 and associate lateral hiring fell off by more than 36% from 2013 to 2014. Read more…

It’s a great thing when you spin the Wheel of Fortune and your lucky number comes up. This is exactly the position that qualified mid-level associates find themselves in today now that animal spirits are percolating once again in the legal market.

Photo: Daniel Roark

As we discussed in part 2 of our recently published Lateral Hiring Report – market conditions for mid-level associates have never been more favorable than they are right now due to a dearth of qualified candidates with requisite Big Law firm experience. You can literally write your ticket to any one of a number of destinations, and take your pick from a broad range of interesting opportunities.
And one of the options you might want to consider is a ticket to London. A few of us from Kinney Recruiting spent some time there last month and we found that mid-level American associates are in very high demand among the ranks of the Magic Circle firms and beyond. So this week we wanted to share with you a few things we learned on our trip in case you’re interested in opting for a few years in London as your next prize of the spinning wheel. Contact one of our recruiters today if you’re interested in learning more.

The high-yield debt practice in London is booming and this is a major source of demand for mid-level U.S. law associates. Many of the high-yield deals in London are done in compliance with U.S. law – specifically Rule 144A – so top tier U.K firms have a keen appetite for U.S trained associates with high-yield finance experience. There are also a number of opportunities with top tier U.S. firms who are active in the London high-yield market. This experience is highly relevant to the job world on both sides of the Atlantic, so it’s actually a great option for someone who thinks he/she may well want to return to the US eventually.

This week we are issuing the second part of a special report on trends in the 2014 lateral hiring market.

Last week we analyzed the data on lateral hiring of law firm partners. This week our attention shifts to lateral hiring of associates, which is always a reliable — yet lagging indicator of demand for legal work. The series will conclude with a discussion of lateral hiring for of counsel positions as well as our observations on the distinct hiring strategies taken by various leading law firms.

Our report is based on market data we have collected on our own over the last five years. As mentioned in last week’s post, several general caveats should be noted about our methodology and the scope of the data collection:

this report only covers data for the top 200 American law firms;

it covers lateral hiring practices in 19 major domestic markets;

we collect this data on our own and make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy;

the associate numbers in particular may be subject to underreporting (more so than partner lateral hiring) simply due to law firm policy regarding public announcement

Despite these caveats we believe the data available to us and as presented here is directionally accurate as to general market trends. In addition to publishing this annual report, we will be issuing several more detailed regional reports over the course of the year. We also make this data available by email subscription (sign up at the bottom of this article).

Prestigious law firm has a need in their NY office for a Stellar-Credentialed Mid-level IP/Tech Transactions Associate with 2-5 years of IP transactional experience at a top 20 law firm. You will have the opportunity to work on interesting, sophisticated, domestic and international matters in a group that is small but with plans to grow. […]

Top law firm has a need in its NY office for a Mid-Level Real Estate Finance Associate with 3-7 years of real estate acquisition/finance, private equity and lending experience at a major law firm. Admissioin to the NY bar is required. Candidates should have a JD from a top law school and a 3.4+ GPA. […]

The Houston office of our client, a Top I00 AmLaw international firm, is seeking a Counsel or Senior Counsel attorney with 4 or more years of corporate transactional experience to join the M&A/Securities practice group. This particular position has the potential to work well for someone looking for a flexible work schedule. Candidates should have […]

Prestigious law firm has a need in their NY office for a stellar Mid-Level M&A Associate with 3-6 years of general corporate M&A, and securities experience at a major law firm. This is a superb opportunity to take on significant responsibility in a growing and busy team. Candidates should have a JD from a top […]

Collegial law firm has a need for a Midlevel Corporate Lending Associate Attorney with 3-6 years of lending, syndicated transactions and secured finance. This is a terrific opportunity for someone looking to make a move to a firm where many attorneys spend their entire careers. There is true work-life balance with this firm as the […]

Our client, a downtown Houston boutique, has an immediate opening for an attorney with transactional experience and business background to assist with maintenance and development of transactional practice. The preferred candidate will have experience directly related to real estate and business acquisitions. Interested and qualified candidates should send their resume in confidence to houston@kinneyrecruiting.com

Our client, a Top I00 AmLaw, is seeking an associate with 2-6 years of experience to join their Commercial Litigation group in the Denver office. Successful applicants will have complex business and commercial litigation experience within a big law firm, and excellent research and writing skills. A prior clerkship is a plus. This is an […]

The Dallas office of our client, a Top I00 AmLaw firm, is seeking a litigation associate with 4 to 5 years of complex commercial litigation experience. You will have experience with discovery, drafting pleadings, attending arbitrations, taking and defending depositions, and attending and arguing hearings. State and federal court experience is required, and you must […]

GFI Group Inc. and BGC Partners, Inc. announced on February 27 the successful completion of BGC’s tender offer for GFI shares. Willkie advised GFI Group in an agreement announced earlier this month with BGC Partners under which GFI’s board of directors unanimously agreed to support BGC’s tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of […]

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP announced today that it served as sole lead counsel to Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE: HCN) in the completion of its public offering of 19,550,000 shares at a price of $75.50 per share for total gross proceeds of approximately $1.5 billion. The offering was the company’s largest overnight common stock […]

In a move that signals its broadening national footprint and continued reach into the Midwest, Goldberg Segalla is pleased to announce that the doors to its St. Louis office are now officially open. The office — the firm’s 13th, located at 8000 Maryland Avenue — is helmed by nationally recognized insurance coverage and toxic tort […]

DLA Piper LLP (US) and Davis LLP announced today that they have reached an agreement to join forces, effective April 2015. The firm will operate as an integrated part of DLA Piper’s global platform and brand, and will adopt the name DLA Piper (Canada) LLP. The proposed combination will unite the breadth of practices and […]

We are pleased to announce that Anderson Mori & Tomotsune (“AMT”) and Bingham Sakai Mimura Aizawa (“BSMA”) have entered into a definitive agreement to integrate the practices of AMT and BSMA’s principal attorneys, and that the following BSMA lawyers will join our firm as partners post-integration:

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Kinney Recruiting prides itself on placing the best lawyers in ideal legal jobs. Our recruiters strive to ensure that all of our placements are the best possible career moves for both candidates and the hiring law firm. If you are thinking about a lateral move, the only choice is Kinney!